The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr William Hague)
Following the announcement made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 20 October 2010, Official Report, column 962 that from 2013 BBC Monitoring will be funded from the TV Licence fee, I can confirm that I will be the Cabinet Minister representing the Government’s interests with regards to BBC Monitoring. A new Monitoring Consultative Group (MCG) consisting of Government officials and BBC representatives will meet twice a year to discuss BBC Monitoring’s strategic direction, to review BBC Monitoring’s performance, and to resolve any issues as necessary.
This arrangement takes effect from 1 April 2013 and will be set out in the BBC Monitoring Scheme. I will place a copy of this “Scheme” in the Libraries of both Houses after that date.